Pyxis
by neverneverever
Summary: When Simon saves a young boy from a demon attack, he finds himself in a part of the shadow world he never knew existed. A place where shadowhunters, downworlders and mundanes work together to keep the shadow world safe from itself. When someone goes missing, Simon must get his new friends and his old friends to work together to find him and it is not going to be easy. T for lang.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hello there! This is the new story that I've been working on, i wanted something different to Harry Potter. It picks up a couple of weeks after City of Fallen Angels finishes, but it won't be anything like what i know Heavenly Fire will be :) It was just a plot-bunny that attacked me and i decided to write it :) Like i said, it's canon up to Fallen Angels. Please read and review, i'd love to hear what you think and if it's worth continuing! enjoy xD  
**

**Warnings: Rated T for some swearing later on, but its pretty mild. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the plot and my OC's, of which there are plenty; the rest belongs to Cassandra Clare.**

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_People don't think in pauses, stops and punctuation_

_Or in carefully constructed sentences and questions_

_People think in one seamless flow of memory and finallyfinallyfinally  
_

It was 2 am, which in Simons' opinion, was the time when all the lonely people either woke up suddenly, or finally fell asleep. He wondered dimly when he became one of those people. Normally he wasn't one for depressing thoughts and deep, philosophical meanings, but then again, it was 2 am and he had had one _hell_ of a week.

There was no one else in the flat, so Simon didn't have to worry about being quiet as he staggered to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of blood. There hadn't been anyone else in the flat for about two weeks now, since Jordan moved temporarily into the institute to help out the Shadowhunters. Apparently Jace needed help with his training, because getting destructive blue fire under control was something even Jace couldn't do on his own. Simon didn't know why Jordan could help with this, but maybe that was because no one had bothered to tell him anything. And he had asked which was what annoyed him the most.

Slumping down on the sofa with a half-full bottle of blood, Simon tried desperately to force back the wave of angry emotions. He was a happy person or vampire or whatever and he hated feeling like this. The stuff Camille had said before had got to him more than he realised and the Shadowhunters latest behaviour really had not helped matters in the slightest. Simon tried to remember the last time Clary had answered the phone and came up blank. Snorting to himself, Simon downed the liquid and went to wash the bottle out. When he finished, he switched on the DVD player and sat back to watch Lord of the rings for what must have been the hundredth time.

Aragorn was just introducing himself by staring creepily at Frodo when a huge crash sounded outside of the flat, startling Simon out of his sleepy state. He paused the film and raised himself up out of his seat, listening carefully with his sensitive hearing. A clatter interrupted the silence and Simon absolutely did _not_ jump. No way.

Cautiously and thanking his apparently creepy ability to move silently-Clary didn't know what she was talking about-Simon stepped over to the door and unlocked it, swinging it open into the empty corridor. He was only wearing black-sleep pants and his MADE IN BROOKLYN t-shirt, so standing out in the corridor with the broken radiator and the cracked window would have been like waltzing out into Antarctica, if he could feel the cold. Except, thought Simon, that Antarctica doesn't usually have a floor covered in blood.

He stared at the floor with increasing worry. Blood splattered the floor and the far wall like watery paint and even though it could have been from some kind of innocent accident, Simon had seen enough to know that it probably wasn't. Still, if someone was hurt, he couldn't just leave them. And if it was a demon or something, he couldn't just let it hurt someone else. If his heart could then Simon knew it would be beating madly, but instead of locking himself inside like he was very tempted to do, Simon shut the door, squared his shoulders and tread carefully over to the stairs, following the blood.

The trail continued until he reached the front door, which he realised with sickening dread was hanging wide open, the outside scratched and _Oh Hell_, what kind of thing made scratches like_ that_? He didn't get cold, but he was beginning to wish he had put on shoes, seeing as it looked like he was going to have to go outside.

Outside it was dark, the streetlights only just illuminating the quiet neighbourhood. Simon almost bit his lip, then remembered his vampire teeth and stopped. He peered around warily, eyes adjusting easily to the lack of light. A sliding and clicking sound echoed from his right and Simon turned sharply towards the sound, fear clouding his mind as his eyes fell on the source of the scratches. It was a demon, and he vaguely thought he recalled seeing one in the battle against Valentines army. It had lots of eyes, an abundance of teeth and rather large pincers. It didn't speak so much as click and the sliding sound was the _something _it was dragging along the floor. Simon stood frozen for about half a second before he launched himself across the five metres of space between him and the monster.

It was one skinny teenager against a large hulking black demon. The demon flew to the side as Simon collided with it, narrowly missing a pincer to the cheek, because Simon wasn't just a skinny teenager-he was a vampire. The force of the landing threw him over the top of the demon, which took the brunt of the fall. Rolling swiftly into a crouch Simon narrowed his gaze at the black mass of angry flesh and glinting eyes. He could feel energy thrumming through his veins like the burn of alcohol.

The fight that followed was quick and deadly, with many near misses on Simon's part and a fatal mistake on the Demon's. It went down with a crash and cluster of clicks that spiralled off into silence. The body wavered like a mirage before burning down into ash. All he had done was bite continuously with needle-point teeth until he found a weak spot and Simon really wanted to wash the taste from his mouth. His tongue felt like it was painted in acid and the skin on his arms burned from where Demon blood had splashed it. That could wait though.

Turning on the spot he walked the last few steps to the something that lay on the ground. It was a human something and he closed his eyes in relief when he heard the laboured breathing, because at least they were alive. Simon knelt by the person-he could see now it was a boy, maybe five years younger than him, judging by the size-and placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him so that the boy lay on his back. There was a head-wound and a sizeable amount of blood soaked the thin blue of the top he was wearing. Simon wanted to panic, but all he could do was shake the shoulder hard and whisper for the boy to wake up.

Eyelids fluttered and a groan sounded from the boy's throat. Simon almost whooped for joy but restrained himself, instead choosing to lower his voice even more. "Can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes." The words were barely a murmur, but Simon smiled when the boy opened his eyes to half-mast, peering up at him foggily.

"You're safe and the thing's dead, but you're injured and I need to call for help, I'm just going to get m-." He cut himself off when a small hand shot out to close around his wrist. Simon wanted to argue, to yell that there wasn't time for this but then the boy was pressing a blood covered phone into his hand. He fumbled the buttons, about to call 999 when he realised the boy had already pressed the number on speed-dial. Now Simon wanted to curse and swear but the boy was looking at him all pleadingly and the phone was ringing and-

"Hello? Darren, is that you? It's almost three o'clock, what is it?" It was a man, and Simon found himself floundering for something to say, because how the hell does one explain this situation?

"Hello, it's-it's not Darren, he's umm, well he's hurt and" Simon raked his fingers through his hair and listened to noises on the other end of the phone.

"Who is this?" the voice was much more alert now, much more dangerous without the husk of sleep clinging to it. "What have you done to him?"

"No! No, I found him, he's bleeding a lot and he didn't want me to call an ambulance, he just put it on speed-dial! I swear I haven't hurt him, but I don't know what to do to help either."

"Im leaving now, where are you? I'll drive and get you. Is he awake?" Simon heard a door slam as he reeled off an address and assured him that the boy-Darren was awake, but only just. The man hung up after assuring Simon he would be there in five and Simon put the phone down on the floor. He turned to Darren and murmured reassurances, trying to distract him as the seconds ticked by. He remembered reading about putting pressure on a wound to stop the bleeding so he pulled off his t-shirt, wincing as the movement jarred his arms. He scooted behind the boy and lifted him so that he was leaning mostly against his chest. Balling up the t-shirt Simon pressed it to Darren's stomach, apologising furiously in low whispers as the boy made a distressed sound. He tried not to move him too much, in case it made things worse.

Simon was extremely thankful that he'd drunk a full bottle of blood just an hour ago, or this would have been an even stickier situation.

"Was the man your father?" he asked half out of desperation to keep Darren awake and half out of pure curiosity-because what 15 year-old kid calls someone they have on speed-dial in this situation when they live not five metres away. Surely Darren didn't live by himself, and yet whoever was on the phone definitely didn't live with him, at least not now anyway.

"'s my brother, Matt. Dad isn't here. Never here really." The sentence was slurred with pain and tiredness and Simon felt a pang at the words. "Well, Matt said he'll be here soon and im sure he'll want to talk to you, so you have to try and stay awake, do you think you can do that kid?"

"Not a kid, 'm 15 soon. And im tired." Simon managed a strained chuckle at the defensive tone and then let out a strangled sound of relief as headlights came into view, driving into the car park with a screech. The car door opened wide and a man got out, illuminated only by the headlights and Simon's vampire eyesight.

Matt hurried across the car park, kneeling at Darren's side with a wild look on his face. Simon was about to say something or snap his fingers in front of the man's face to get him to move instead of just staring, but he didn't have to. Matt jumped into action, removing the balled up cloth that was Simon's t-shirt and reaching into his jacket pocket. Simon's breath caught in his throat.

The man had a stele.

Simon watched with wide eyes as Matt brought the stele down on the skin beneath the collarbone of his brother and swore with every single curse word he could think of inside his mind. He wasn't entirely sure why he was freaking out so bad, but for some reason, Simon felt like this was the equivalent of the moment in The Prisoner of Azkaban, where Harry was introduced to Sirius Black and Wormtail and told his teacher was a werewolf at the same time. Talk about an information overload.

The iratzes didn't take long to work but Simon knew the kid would still need rest and a lot of sugary drinks to replace the blood lost. Obviously Matt knew this too, being a Shadowhunter and all. Simon wordlessly transferred Darren over to the older man, who had to be at least 25 and cut quite an impressive figure as he got to his feet, striding over to the car with his brother in his arms. Simon picked up the phone and followed them over, watching as Matt buckled the boy into a back seat and piled a spare coat over him. Then he turned to Simon.

"Look, I don't have time to explain everything now so unless you want to call in the morning or you got someone waiting for you…" he gestured impatiently at the car door, already moving to the driver's side. Simon knew he should go back into the flat and sleep, just go in and call in the morning, or better yet just forget about the whole thing. Which was why he was completely shocked when his feet moved him to the door and his hands came up to pull on the handle.

"There's no one waiting and if you don't mind, I'd like to make sure he's okay."

Matt nodded once and Simon slid into the passenger seat, wondering just what he was getting himself into.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you very much to the people who reviewed and followed and favourited! i have decided to continue just for you! this ones a bit shorter and im not sure if i like it, but hopefully you do :) read and review please! thank you, happy reading :)**

**Warnings: None needed here :) **

**Disclaimer: My plot and My OC's, but other than that, i don't own anything :)**

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The door opened with a bang, ripping Simon out of dreams of sunshine and whirring demons. He sat up, flailing slightly and staring wide-eyed at the mini-hurricane that had launched itself into his room. Wait, this wasn't his room. His room was white and completely empty, except for a mattress and his bag of clothes. His room was not the size of a large garage with blue paint and white skirting boards and curtains. His room was not full of actual furniture or stationary or the posters on the ceiling of Supernatural and various Keep Calm quotes. Although now that he was actually looking, Simon seriously regretted the fact that this wasn't his room.

The mini-hurricane disguised as a boy-or was it the other way round?-giggled at Simon's wild expression and toilet brush hair. That was literally the only way to describe his hair in the mornings. It was a far cry from the sexy bed head that Isabelle purposely styled it into a few months back, which in Simon's book made no sense. Why should it be called bed head if you spent ages in front of the mirror trying to make it look that way and the result was nothing like it was when you woke up?

Darren giggled again and Simon shook himself out of his trance, yawning and stretching not unlike a cat before standing up. He glanced down at the shirt he vaguely remembered Matt throwing at him and grinned at the quote: "Im not saying im batman, im just saying, no one has ever seen me and batman in a room together."

"That's Matt's t-shirt but I think he'll let you keep it. He said to come and wake you up so you can tell him what you want to eat." Darren babbled happily about orange juice and some TV programme he was watching but Simon was a little busy being flabbergasted to answer. This kid talked like he'd been injected with sugar and he definitely didn't look like he'd been attacked last night and almost bled to death. Simon was sure he wouldn't have been nearly this hyper if it were him.

"What time is it?" he felt a little bad interrupting the steady stream of chatter but the sunlight coming through the window was seriously confusing him. Darren didn't seem to mind though and just switched from babble to helpful and point five of a second.

"It's nearly 2 o'clock, so it's not really breakfast so much as late lunch. But you can still have bacon and stuff if you like." Simon followed the hurricane out of the room at a much more human speed, which was ironic seeing as he was a vampire, he thought in a way that was both bewildered and resigned. Honestly, so much crap had happened lately that this didn't even make it close to the top.

The room he had been sleeping in led out into a hallway and then down a huge set of stairs and into what had to have been some kind of entrance hall. There were paintings and thick swirling carpets and an honest to God chandelier that lit up the very grand room, making him feel like a bug that just got dragged in through on someone's shoe or something. It also made him feel extremely under-dressed, but he figured that wasn't hard to do since he was in pyjamas. Darren led him out of the hall and away from the stairs and the front door, back past several shut doors and quite a few more sets of stairs until they reached a kitchen. Matt was there, and he turned away from the frying pan where Simon could hear the sizzle of bacon just in time to grab the slice of toast as it popped up.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty." Matt said dryly, eyeing Simon's hair as if it had started doing cartwheels. Simon raised an eyebrow in return and muttered a greeting that might have been "good morning" but could just have easily been "please be silent." You never can tell sometimes.

Darren through himself in front of a television that Simon only just noticed, which was weird because it took up a fair space on the far side of the kitchen. The fact that they had a television in the kitchen was just beyond unfair.

Matt pushed food across the table towards him and to be polite Simon identified it as toast and eggs, said thank you and _then_ refused to eat it. Well, it's not like he stood up and threw the food across the room while staging a protest against eggs but he made no move to eat any of it and averted his eyes to the TV. Matt say across from him with his own food and a heavy silence fell around the room, one that Darren seemed oblivious to as he happily sipped his orange juice and mouthed the words to the episode.

"Alright, let's cut to the chase here. Normally I would have got a warlock over here to wipe your memories before you were even half asleep, but you helped save my brother and for that im grateful." He held up a hand when Simon went to object. "Also, you didn't even blink when I mentioned warlocks and more than a bit of creepy-ass stuff went down last night, so I have a feeling you aren't just any mundane." Simon shook his head negative, but he couldn't help but be confused; most Shadowhunters or Downworlders could tell he was a vampire- they just sensed it off each other. "I know you're a Shadowhunter, I've got friends who are Shadowhunters too, but you're right-im not a mundane." He offered warily. He was still a vampire, little more than target practice for most nephilim.

"Well, you're not a Shadowhunter as far as I can tell; you basically admitted that just then. You can't be one of the night children, seeing as you're sat right in the sun and werewolves are usually a lot more…aggressive. And no way are they that skinny." He paused here to smirk while Simon hovered between sticking his tongue out and scowling. He picked both and somehow got the feeling from Matt's widening smirk that he looked about five years old. "Anyway, I can't see a warlock's mark on you and you're definitely not one of the fey-that I can at least tell. So what exactly are you?"

"Are you going to crush me into tiny little pieces and hide my body away somewhere if I do and you don't like the answer?" he had met that attitude before, more than once, so he felt entitled to a little caution here. Matt eyed him with some amusement and raised one eyebrow. Simon was faced with the uncomfortable realisation that if he could, that action would have him blushing like a schoolgirl. Shaking that thought away, he tuned back in to hear Matt assure him that, unless he was a demon, Simon was safe.

"Well, you already guessed it actually, but im a vampire." Matt frowned for a moment before looking pointedly at the sunshine filtering in through the window and painting Simon's already pale skin bright white. "Yeah, that is an extremely long story, but if we make it shorter, basically, I am a Daylighter. That's why I didn't flinch at warlock or freak out too badly yesterday…or this morning, whatever. That's also why I have to decline that lovely offer of food thanks."

The surprise was already melting off Matt's face to be replaced with a thoughtful expression. He stood and grabbed the plate and headed over to the fridge, placing Simon's untouched plate on the side and delving into the fridge. When he emerged, Simon couldn't help the look of shock he was wearing when Matt pushed a Mountain Dew bottle full of blood across the table. He lifted it slowly from the table and unscrewed the cap, taking a sip before asking "So, are you in the habit of keeping blood in your fridge or is this just my lucky day?"

"Both actually sweetheart, but I'll explain that in a bit, along with all the other questions you no doubt have buzzing around in there." He gestured towards Simon's head with a thankfully empty spoon before scooping up more cereal, oblivious to Simon's inner turmoil. Maybe he was just one of those guys with a fondness for pet names or something, Simon thought frantically. He wasn't homophobic, not at all; he just wasn't used to being called sweetheart by well-built men with a more than slightly wicked smirk and the ability to raise one eyebrow. Simon sipped more of his blood and built a very large wall around those thoughts that were currently freaking his brain right out.

A distraction arrived in the form of Darren AKA mini-hurricane (and he really was mini) and Simon happily explained to him that no this was not strawberry juice and yes he was a vampire and no that did not mean he could fly and NO he was not going to try it just to see what happened. Simon stared desperately around the room, almost wishing for a real hurricane to just swoop in here and grab him and stuff him back to Jordan's flat please. But it was an Almost, because this was the first time he'd properly spoken to someone in about 2 weeks. Even if said people were a hyperactive child with an orange juice moustache and his much bigger brother who could, let's face it, probably accidentally step on Simon and turn him into dust.

Still, conversation is conversation, no matter whom or where it comes from.

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**Hope you enjoyed! let me know what you think through that lil' review button down there, my fabulous peeps! :) Have a happy day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello! i wanted to say a big thank you to those who read this and followed, favourited or reviewed! You have my everlasting thanks :) sorry if this is a bit boring, but i'm just trying to get everything sorted, there's more plot in a couple chapters. do me a favour and keep reading! reviews are very welcome, let me know if i should continue! thanks again and enjoy! **

**Warnings: none needed!**

**Disclaimer: same as before, no ownage :)**

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As it turned out, this place wasn't a mansion as Simon first thought-it was some kind of base, but in Simon's eyes it basically _was _a mansion. Matt took him for a tour, Darren trailing behind or dancing in front like a dog chasing a squirrel.

"It _is_ a base, I suppose, if you want to call it that, because headquarters sounds really nerdy." Matt was smiling as he answered Simon so he guessed he wasn't overstepping any lines here. Seeing his inquisitive look, Matt sighed and started explaining.

"It started loads of years back, a bit before Valentine was born. One of my grandfathers, I forget which, got a message from a silent brother warning him about a danger in our future. There were instructions in the message, to build a group of people, Shadowhunters and Downworlders alike, to watch over the Shadow world and keep it as safe as we could. So my grandfather did just that. He gathered together warlocks and Shadowhunters and fey, night children, werewolves and even some mundanes with the sight. There weren't many to begin with, but it grew as they grew and expanded until it reached over the entire world. He called it Pyxis."

"Whoa. I wasn't expecting that." Simon slowed as they passed through yet another hallway and tried to make sense of it all. That had just given him more questions, not less.

"I don't understand something. I take it that the danger was Valentine, or at least he was part of it, but if that's the case then where was this group when he attacked Idris?" Simon made sure his voice was just confused and curious instead of accusing, which wasn't hard because he didn't feel accusing. It worked though, because instead of bristling Matt just looked at him sideways and carried on talking.

"We were there, of course." At Simon's confused look he waved a hand and elaborated. "We were there both times. When the circle was just forming, Pyxis was still learning and not as widespread as it is now. We leave the demon-hunting to other Shadowhunters-that's their job and they're pretty good at it. Im still a Shadowhunter, but I only get called in every now and again. But, we deal with conflicts and fights and trouble within the shadow world. We have information on almost every single Downworlder and Shadowhunter out there. We were there when Valentine started the uprising and we were there when Jonathon Morgenstern released an army of demons. We were there, Simon, it's just that we spend so long trying to be invisible and so long blending into the background, that no one knows we're there until it's too late." Matt gave a wolfish grin that reminded Simon of Jace-right before Jace delivered a harsh line or sliced a seraph blade into a monster's neck. It had a warning around it, one that was very easy to see.

Suppressing a shiver, Simon cast his eyes around when he realised they'd come to a stop. There was a door in front of them, that didn't look particularly different to the very many others he's seen so far. Darren slipped eagerly around them and opened the door with a bang, announcing his presence with a cheerful shout. Simon couldn't help but grin and shake his head, because that kid was just way too hyper. Then something made him pause. "Hang on, you said you knew every Downworlder out there, so how come you didn't recognise me? I told you my name last night before I fell asleep…" he trailed off, confused, which seemed to be a permanent emotion for him this morning. Matt lost the wolfish grin and replaced it with a genuinely amused one.

"Simon, we're good and all that, but you think I recognise someone just by their name? We were kind of busy last night you know, sleeping and everything. Plus, you're relatively new and you were turned at an odd time. That and you keep "questionable company" for a vampire. You're just an oddity and an anomaly." Simon rolled his eyes and entered the room after Matt, ignoring the teasing and staring around at the impressive space. The far wall was lined with a lot of computers and machines that looked a lot more complicated than Simon was used to. He wondered if he could get COD to play on any of those. There was a window set into the wall that looked out onto what Simon assumed was the car park they'd driven into last night. It might look like a mansion from the inside, but the outside really did just look like a block of run-down flats.

A table took up most of the room and one of those wheelie-whiteboard things stood pushed off to the side, littered with what looked like co-ordinates and a game of hangman. The table was covered in paper and photographs and five people sat around them in cushioned chairs. Darren snagged a chair and sat down on it backwards, chattering to the others and scooping a few stray M&M's out of a bag on the table top. Matt clapped a hand to his shoulder and called for attention, which normally would have made Simon squirm with embarrassment, but for some reason he didn't mind so much when all of them looked over.

"This here's Simon and im sure you know who he is, due to blabbermouth over there" he jerked a finger over at his little brother, who just pouted and stuffed about four sweets in his mouth. Sweets, which in Simon's opinion, he_ really_ didn't need. Simon waved half-heartedly and glared when Matt pushed him over in the direction of the table. Honestly, where else was he going to go?

The only girl at the table stood up to shake his hand. She looked like Isabelle, only more…dark. Actually, she looked like someone out of one of his anime, all short black hair and smoky eyeshadow framing bright blue eyes that matched the colour of her leather jacket. Simon could tell from the swirling ink that wound her throat like a necklace that she was a necklace. When she moved back from shaking his hand her jacket shifted to show a dagger sewn into the side. Her name was Katie.

Simon pulled up a chair beside Darren who turned to him with a chocolaty smile and began pointing at various people.

"These are all the main leaders for each section in Pyxis. Matt's in charge of the whole thing, he owns everything, in all the countries. Katie's in charge of the Shadowhunters and also weaponry. She's one of the best fighter's nephilim have ever seen. Course they don't usually _see_ her. That's Wade over there. He's our Faerie leader, also pretty good at defence and strategy." Simon returned the nod that "Wade" sent him. The guy had blue hair. Bright turquoise hair that stuck up not unlike Simons bed head, which had thankfully calmed down. Other than that he looked pretty normal, despite the elongated fingers and lips that looked like they'd been bitten by Frost. Simon was going to hazard a guess at him being some kind of water faerie. Although, he admitted, you never could tell with the fey.

Simon turned to look at the next person, or rather werewolf, which Darren introduced as Jaerin. He was expecting some kind of sneer or insulting remark, because if Simon could tell what Jaerin was by smell, then surely the other guy knew he was a vampire. Instead however, he just got a quiet request to go by Jer, and that was that. Huh. Well, no complaints here!

"Good to meet you all." Simon smiled but quickly fixed his eyes to Matt, hoping he would just explain what was going on and not leave him alone with these people, who all looked like he could kill him with just they're eyes. They had been much less intimidating from further away.

Luckily Matt took pity on him and began addressing them all, looking serious and dangerous from his place at the head of the table. "Look, last night something attacked Darren while he was at his friend's house. Darren says he got a good look at it before it knocked him out and he reckons he can identify it. When Tesla gets here she can pull up some pictures, see if we can't track this thing and then Katie and Jer can go get it. That sound good?"

Simon cleared his throat and then winced when they all turned to look at him.

"Spit it out vampire, we haven't got all day!" Katie snapped impatiently and Simon noticed how they were all really keyed up now. Obviously, Darren meant a lot to them.

"You, well you might have trouble tracking it, considering its dead."

It took a while to describe everything to everyone but, at least no one doubted him by the end. He got the impression they thought he was just a rogue vampire or something-one who preferred to live by himself instead of in a flock of big bat-like bloodsuckers. He also got the impression that they were a bit disappointed now that there was no demon killing spree to look forward to. Matt eyed all the disgruntled expressions and rolled his eyes-which Simon realised, were a startling green-to the painted ceiling.

"We still have to find out what it wanted and if it's got any friends on their way. Cheer up!" Matt grinned and began throwing out orders, sending Katie and Jer back to the scene of the fight to make sure everything was cleaned up and look for clues. Darren had schoolwork to finish, so Matt decreed that Wade could go and find someone called Tesla while they went back upstairs.

"Plus we need to get you changed Batman. Those aren't really flattering." Simon flipped him the finger and trudged over to the door, trying to ignore Matt's teasing laughter and the fact that Wade used his weird faerie magic to melt into a puddle and disappear.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: hey there! Sorry it took so long to update and sorry it's quite shortish :P hopefully you enjoy it anyway! I wanted to say thanks to those who followed, favourited and enjoyed this story and if you reviewed it then thank you very much, i really appreciate it. Let me know what you think via review and i hope you enjoy it :)**

**Warnings: uh, i don't think i have any, though if you squint it might look a bit like slash in some parts. So leave if you dislike that i suppose.**

**Disclaimers: see previous chapters, but i don't own.**

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Bloody hell, since _when_ had math been this hard? Simon stared unseeingly down at the paper that was supposed to be covered in the answers to circle theorems and drew a quick noughts and crosses grid instead. He wasn't stupid, far from it, but he also happened to hate math. He preferred science because you just had to remember the facts and that was that. Sometimes they just waved the answers in front of your face.

Darren bent his head low over the paper, hiding it from Matt as he passed by their spot on the floor. Simon was lying on his stomach, head propped up on one hand while Darren sat cross legged with the pencil between his teeth. Katie had called about half an hour ago, saying that the night team Matt had sent out had already cleared up any mess and told Darren's friends parents where he was. They were just scouting for clues now and gathering up some of the ash to use in a tracking spell, if the wind hadn't blown it all away.

Simon blocked Darren's next move with a well-placed circle-he was always circle-and took a swig of blood from where it sat on the coffee table. He was still a bit miffed no one had noticed his absence, although it made sense, considering none of them had really noticed him while he was there, why would they notice him now that he wasn't there?

It almost didn't make sense, the way everyone seemed determined to pretend he didn't exist. He wasn't so mean as to think they were doing it on purpose, rather he just wasn't quite important enough to remember.

"Ha! I win! You suck at this Simon." Darren looked at him smugly and proudly waved the paper around in front of his face. A hand came out and snatched it from its place in front of Simons nose, the man adopting a fake-inquisitive look and a deep voice. "Hmm, interesting…I wasn't aware you could win at circle theorems Darren. Care to enlighten me?" Matt smirked at his younger brother, who just scowled and snatched the paper back, flipping resignedly through the textbook and scribbling slowly on the now crumpled paper.

Simon adopted an innocent expression when Matt turned to look at him accusingly, only to spoil that image by yelping loudly when a loud bang made him jump. "That'll be Tesla" muttered Darren, without looking up from his work. It was indeed.

Simon caught a glimpse of red hair and a white jumper before it disappeared from view, along with much cursing and windmill arms. The girl that was apparently Tesla picked herself up from where she'd tripped over the rug and landed behind the sofa. She grinned sheepishly before leaping over the sofa and landing sprawled out on the cushions.

Tesla did have red hair; it was much darker than Clary's and Tesla's curled and waved all over the place. Her eyes were grey and the white jumper had Miami printed on the front with palm trees waving in the background. Literally waving around on the jumper like there was a breeze being blown across the stitching. She raised an eyebrow at him, still smiling somewhat and held out a hand for him to shake.

"Tesla Vane, at your service. Who and what are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Simon reached over to shake her hand, taking in the blue ring and chipped silver nail varnish. She was a complete mix of colours. "I don't mind you asking," He replied with a smile, "I'm Simon Lewis and im a vampire, you?" He marvelled over the fact that she didn't even flinch, let alone snatch her hand away like he was poisonous.

"Vampire. Well, you're sat in the sunlight, so im going to guess you're a…Daylighter? I didn't know there were any Daylighters, you must be the first in a while." She grinned when he nodded. "I'm a warlock. Matt made me Warlock Leader for Pyxis, didn't you Matticus?" she called the last cheerfully over her shoulder, grinning even bigger when Matt came by to swat at her shoulder.

"Biggest mistake I ever made." Matt said dryly, rolling his eyes at the girls mock-hurt look. Tesla waved a hand at him, declaring loudly that he was obviously just jealous that he wasn't as awesome as her and prompting war.

"They're always like this," said Darren sounding exasperated, "Tesla's like a sister really, she's only two years older than me but she acts like…well, actually she acts like whatever she fancies, she's an extreme drama queen." Simon nodded at that and started up another noughts and crosses game. "She makes a good distraction at least." He muttered under his breath and Darren ducked his head to hide his laughter.

Matt was making dinner by the time they broached the subject of where Simon was staying. The smell of pasta floated over from the cooker and Simon found himself wishing he was human just to take a bite of it. It smelled delicious and meat-free. Darren swirled round in the chair, balancing it on one leg so he could spin and gripping the counter so he didn't fall off. Katie and Jer had dropped off Simon's very few belongings and the house was now empty of evidence that Simon ever lived there. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. They assured him that everything was fine there and that by the looks of it, no one had been by to check on him. How this was supposed to be reassuring was anyone's guess, but personally, Simon found it more depressing.

Luckily, it was hard to be depressed here. Despite the seriousness of the Pyxis, the people he'd met so far were all pretty nice. In fact, some of them were brilliant.

"Do you have to go home?" Simon looked at Darren in surprise. "I guess it depends what you mean by home." He answered carefully. Matt turned to look at him, frowning slightly and gesticulating with a spoon in a way that meant "elaborate".

"Well, I can't go to my actual home, because my mum sort of thinks im a monster who killed her son and has warded it against me. Not that I blame her, I didn't make things easy for her." He added quickly when Matt and Darren exchanged looks. Tesla looked at him in concern from her place at the counter where she was chopping mushrooms. He decided to continue, seeing as no one was telling him to shut up yet.

"So my mum's off the list and my sister came down for a while but, she had to leave again in time for University and to get back to her job. I have friends but they…well, they're all really busy. Normally I'd go to my best friends-she's called Clary, but you probably already knew that, but her parents are on a late honeymoon and Clary's been busy too." Simon frowned because all of that just made him sound sad and pathetic. He looked up when a bit of mushroom hit him in the side of the head. Tesla winked and crossed her arms.

"No girlfriend? Or boyfriend?" She slid her eyes sideways to Matt slyly and Simon was very extra glad he couldn't blush. He thought quickly of Isabelle. He'd thought they'd been going somewhere, but considering he hadn't heard from her in about three weeks, he wasn't so sure. He wasn't going to give up on her, not if he there was a chance, but he still didn't know.

He shrugged.

Tesla smiled and there was something understanding in it that made him relax. Matt turned back to the pasta and for a moment there was quiet.

"You still didn't answer me you know, not really," piped up Darren. Simon looked at him with question mark eyes. "Do you have to go home?" Simon grinned at the boy and then looked at Matt, who was stirring in the mushrooms now. "I suppose that depends."

"On what?" Darren hopped about in his seat excitedly. Man, Simon couldn't leave this kid for anything! He was the epitome of awesome. Well, a younger epitome, seeing as Simon was actually the most awesome being in the galaxy. Just ask anybody!

"It depends on whether or not you have any more of those t-shirts lying around. Most of mine got ruined in various demon fights and I need me some cool slogans." Simon quirked a grin at Darren who let out a high-pitched whoop and jumped off the chair. Simon thought he was about to go and drag every last t-shirt in the mansion over to him as proof, but he just leapt all over the room instead. Tesla laughed and Simon watched as she joined in, music appearing out of nowhere, not loud enough to hurt his vampire hearing but definitely loud enough for those two. What the hell kind of amazing warlock powers did she have?

Matt joined him at the counter, placing three bowls of pasta carbonara on the surface and leaning in to talk to him. Simon stared at the green eyes so close to his and had to blink a few times. That damn smirk was back, as well. "I hope you don't mind me staying? I can leave if you want, it's up to you." Simon was suddenly filled with dread at the idea that Matt might tell him to go.

The man rolled his eyes. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? But it's not actually up to me; you've met puppy dog eyes over there." He nodded at his brother, who was now doing some pretty impressive disco-dancing. ABBA would be proud. "Anyway, even if it was just up to me, I have no problem with you staying. In fact…" Simon leaned in reflexively when Matt lowered his voice. "I'd quite like you to join Pyxis."

Simon stared. And then he stared a little bit more, for good measure.

"What?"

"Pyxis. I'd like you to join it. Not straight away, you'd have to get trained up a bit first and get to know the system and the people, but after that…" Matt smiled warmly at his stunned look and nodded. "You don't have to answer now. Think about it for a bit, come to some of the training sessions and get to know the leaders. If you don't want to join, that's fine and im not going to kick you out if that's what you want, but the offer's there." Simon nodded dumbly and scraped up a smile, not sure why he was so shocked. Maybe it was just how fast everything was happening.

"You two! Food." Matt called over the music, which immediately dulled to a hum in the background. Tesla sat down next to Simon, out of breath and grinning while Darren collapsed happily in the chair on his other side and dug in.

"Woah! Slow down buddy or you'll choke. You're a person, not a hoover." Simon had to grin though; half the bowl had already been consumed. Tesla laughed from next to him and pointed a fork at his face. "So, I took a sneaky look in those bags of yours because I'm nosy like that, and I couldn't help but notice that you don't have an awful lot in there. I'm thinking a shopping trip is in order!" The fork swivelled to point at Darren, who looked at it with dread and resignation. "You're coming as well, you need a haircut and new shoes, seeing as you wrecked the last pair playing football in the park."

She paused and added lightly, "Plus, there's a new issue of your Cross-Cut Comic out in town, and I know you want it…" she trailed off with a smile when Darren grumbled something about might being able to make it. Atta boy, pick your fights! The fork switched faces again.

Matt eyed the fork with the air of a man who knew he was going to lose, but was resolved to fighting every last second of the game until he did. Simon might have been being a bit dramatic, but no one had to know that. He watched the red-head argue her way relentlessly through a list of increasingly desperate reasons against going shopping with them. Eventually Matt agreed, if only because Darren swore he'd spend hundreds of pounds on as many pranks as he could find and then use them all on Matt for not suffering along with them. Simon agreed.

"Look at it this way, at least now you'll know which pranks to look out for."

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**Hope you liked it!**

**review and let me know what you think of it :)**

**Thank you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey! Hope you enjoy this one, finally things are moving! Lots more plot in the next chapter :) Sorry it took so long, but I'd really appreciate any reviews or comments :) Thank you very much! Happy reading :P **

**Warnings: A little miniscule bit of slash and language, but very tame :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters! **

* * *

Chapter Five

Shopping was an…experience. And not one Simon really wanted to repeat. Ever. It wasn't all bad actually. Tesla bought him three new outfits and Matt paid for him to pick out all new furniture and paint for the spare room. Simon was disappointed that he couldn't just stay in the one he'd woken up in (seriously, that was a kick-ass room) but apparently he needed to start out fresh.

He teased Darren throughout his haircut, but he also read him extracts from his new Comic and bought the boy a smoothie. They did buy pranks, but they also set off a lot of pranks accidentally and Darren was just as clumsy as Tesla in the Home Store, knocking over a shelf of clocks, a display full of picture frames and a big lampshade between them. Matt apologised profusely while Simon hid behind a wardrobe and laughed his ass off at Darren's terrified expression. Tesla just grinned.

When they got back, Simon found his phone buried under the math homework from last night and plugged it in with his new charger. There was a missed call and a message from Clary. He hesitated before opening up the conversation.

_Need you to come to the institute. Got to ask a favour. It's urgent! _

Simon stared incredulously at the message. Surely that wasn't it? Surely he got more than that? Apparently not.

"Simon? Is everything alright?" Matt placed a warm hand on his shoulder, squeezing down and Simon couldn't help but lean into it.

"No, not really." He passed the phone to Matt, who scrolled through the non-existent conversation. The last one before this was dated about three weeks previous. Matt huffed out a sigh and handed the phone back, using the hand on his shoulder to steer him around to face him. His eyes flitted across Simon's face, and he was yet again, extremely thankful that he couldn't blush. Whatever Matt was looking for, he seemed to find it, because he sighed again and quietly asked if Simon needed a lift. He hesitated, thinking about just running there, before he remembered the way the sky had been turning gloomy earlier. Just because he couldn't feel the cold didn't mean the rain didn't bother him. He nodded.

"Okay, I would drive you but I've got to do a weapons check and supervise the new trainees. I'll get Tesla to drop you off on her way to her house. If you need anything, then ring, okay?"

Simon nodded again. "I saved your number in my phone yesterday. New trainees?" Matt smiled knowingly at him before leaning down to pick up Simon's bags. And Simon seriously needed to not stare whenever he bent over; it was becoming a bad habit. He shook his head to get rid of the thought and snatched up his phone and the charger, leading the way to his new room.

"Yeah, we got a couple of warlocks who want to join. They're only lower-level power wise, but one of them knows how to do a lot of healing spells, which is always useful." Simon hummed thoughtfully at that, shouldering open the door to his room in time to see Tesla whack Darren in the face with a small white cushion. The boy let out a cry that was somewhat muffled, but nonetheless indignant and Matt sighed from behind him.

The room was quite big and painted a plain white, with soft grey carpet and curtains. The colours reminded him of Clary, with her charcoal and graphite pencils and smooth sketchbooks. He breathed in the smell of new sheets and wood and smiled happily. Tesla was busy producing bags from nowhere. Literally.

She gestured over to the bed, which was a four-poster one with grey curtains and a large pile of bags materialised on the lime green bedcovers. Simon snorted and walked over to the bed.

"Did you steal these? I don't remember you buying so much stuff." Tesla sniffed disdainfully and waved a hand at one of the far walls. A TV unit appeared; a TV and Playstation 3 balanced carefully on top of it.

"As if I would steal. Honestly, Matt's family's rich anyway, I wouldn't _need_ to steal any of this. But no, im just practicing my materialisation spell. It's permanent, don't worry, it's not all going to disappear as soon as im out of range!"

Simon opened one of the bags and six of those tiny cushions that look good in the adverts but are always really uncomfortable to sleep with hopped out. They lined up on top of his covers, each different shades of green and grey. Matt placed the actual bags down next to a bedside table that hadn't been there a second ago and coughed lightly to get Tesla's attention. Simon was extremely aware of how close he was. Maybe Matt hadn't noticed, he mused.

"Would you be able to drive Simon back to the institute in a minute? His friend texted him and apparently it's urgent." Simon was about to argue that he could talk for himself when he saw Tesla's smile. It was decidedly evil looking. Simon took a wary step backwards, which put him even closer to Matt, making him take another step forward.

"Of course I can! Shall we go now?" She aimed this at Simon, advancing with each word and it was the smile that clued him in on the fact that she didn't mean the normal kind of drive. It probably didn't even include a car. He barely had time to hold his breath before Tesla grabbed hold of his arm and they shot through the floor, Darren's joyous laugh echoing behind them.

* * *

Simon checked his watch and sighed for the tenth time in as many minutes. The institute steps weren't exactly cosy and the dark rainclouds were getting closer every second. He might not be able to feel the rain, but it still soaked all his clothes and put him in a bad mood. Izzie had promised to only be a few minutes, but apparently time passed differently inside the institute, Simon thought sarcastically. He wouldn't really have minded so much waiting if it hadn't been for the fact that Clary had texted him and said it was urgent.

Tesla had dropped him off laughing, while Simon tried desperately not to throw blood up everywhere. That would not have been pretty. He'd thought for a moment that they'd Apparated, but it was less like disappearing and then appearing and more like rushing through everything in the way of you and your destination at warp speed. It was brilliant and completely horrible at the same time.

The door to the Institute clanged open and Simon snapped his head up to look at his best friend. She ran at him and smothered him in a hug.

"Simon! Im so sorry I haven't called but I've been so busy that I just…" Clary stepped back from the hug and gave him a tired smile, brushing some of her fiery red hair behind her ears. Simon eyed her-not like that-and took in the dark circles and pale skin. She didn't look thinner though which was good, as Jocelyn and Clary both seemed to forget to eat when they were stressed out. And Clary was definitely stressed out.

"No problem Clary, I get that you're all pretty busy and in way over your heads. Any change with Jace? You said it was urgent in your message." He tried extremely hard to keep a cheery tone in his voice and it must have worked because she just smiled gratefully and a bit sheepishly.

"Ah, well it's not so much urgent as it is-well I just thought you might like to know is all. There hasn't been any change in Jace really; he still bursts into flames every now and again. We've worked out that he needs to stay calm and peaceful," She paused and grinned ruefully as Simon snorted, "but he's having a bit of trouble controlling it, even if he won't admit it." Clary sounded fond and exasperated at the same time and Simon snorted again because they were both just as stubborn as each other.

"Anyway, Alec suggested we go to a warlock, but he and Magnus broke up so _we_ can't ask him."

It took a moment for Simon to process that, not only because it was an absurd idea but also because he wasn't part of the emphasised "we" and for some reason that hurt. But he shook that away and told himself that it wasn't really a surprise, considering the fact that they'd completely ignored him for three weeks.

"So you want me to go and ask him instead? I'd ask why you think he's going to listen to me but there's no point, seeing as I'll end up doing it anyway." He waved a hand dismissively when Clary went to answer.

"It's fine; I'll push back a few appointments on my extremely busy schedule. Do you think the Queen would mind if I postponed our outing?" he grinned as Clary laughed and shoved him ineffectively in the shoulder. Being a vampire did have some advantages. Simon folded Clary into a hug and pushed her back towards the institute, after making her promise to get some sleep. He waited until she was safely inside before turning around and starting to walk. He was still working out all the kinks to his Vampire speed, but he thought he could make it in 5 minutes if he ran really fast.


End file.
